


No Defenses

by dawnchsr



Series: No Promises Series [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: M/M, Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-26
Updated: 2011-11-26
Packaged: 2017-10-26 13:18:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,703
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/283633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dawnchsr/pseuds/dawnchsr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Steve sets out to wear down Danny's defenses</p>
            </blockquote>





	No Defenses

It had been a long, miserable couple of weeks as far as Danny was concerned, and not all of it could be attributed to the two or three new cases they caught. He sprawled on his couch, still in his work clothes although he’d ditched the tie and shoes hours ago. He’d picked up Chinese on the way home from headquarters, the half empty boxes littering his counter. The TV was on but he couldn’t settle into anything so he muted the sound and tried reading with little success.

He was tired and he was lonely and he didn't know what to do about either. Steve finally took him at his word and left him the hell alone. They still partnered, Steve still grabbed the keys and drove most of the time, they discussed cases and paperwork like two civilized human beings.

Gone were the arguments, the bickering and verbal swiping. But it wasn't just that. There were those awkward moments when silence backfilled into the room or car, his friends looking at Danny, waiting on his sarcasm. These last couple of weeks he had none to offer.

But it was more than that. When Steve decided to leave Danny the hell alone, he took it to the letter. He no longer crowded into Danny's personal space and made a point to come no further than Danny's office door. Gone were the careful touches, the slide of his hand on Danny's arm or resting on his shoulder. The flirting, the smiles, the innuendo… even the spark that flared between them, all gone.

It left Danny achy and miserable and longing. Steve was there, but where once had been their friendship and possibly more, was now a huge void. Danny thrived on touch and contact and up until the moment Steve took it away, he had no idea just how much he needed it. And not just anyone's, because there were still Kono and Chin.

He needed Steve.

And Christ, he swore he'd never put himself in this situation again yet here he was, confused and bewildered, not knowing what to do. He was right back where he started when he came to this damned island—having nothing more than work and Grace.

A knock on the door brought him out of his tangled thoughts and he stared at it, puzzled. Whoever it was knocked again. It had to be Steve, because who the hell else would show up on his doorstep on a Friday evening. Danny got up and came to the door with a tumble of mixed emotions at the thought the other man had come.

The dead last person he expected to see standing there was, of all people, Rachel.

He stood there, mouth and door half open, staring at his ex-wife.

"Daniel?" She watched him with dark eyes, her hair loose and spilling around her shoulders.

"Rachel, um-" Danny shook his head and focused. "Why are you here? Is Grace okay?"

"Grace is fine, but she's the reason I'm here. I want to talk to you."

There was something there, in her voice, in her eyes that had Danny swallowing. He couldn't help it, couldn't chase the sinking feeling away that something was about to happen.

Rachel must have sensed his growing unease and shook her head, her expression softening. "I just want to talk, Danny."

He nodded, sucking in a deep breath when he realized he'd stopped breathing altogether. "There's a coffee shop around the corner. We can walk over."

"Very well, if you want."

***

Danny, always a gentleman, held her chair for her as they found a table under a bright flowered umbrella. A breeze played down the street and Rachel watched Danny as he took in everything around him before sitting back in his own chair. He always was aware of everything, something that at one time annoyed Rachel. But now, seeing him as he nodded to the young waitress, she couldn't understand why.

The waitress smiled, called him "Detective Williams" and asked what they would like. She was flirting, although not outrageously, yet Danny didn't seem to notice as he asked for a couple of iced teas. Rachel thought it was cute as she gave Danny a smile.

He only looked at her with confusion. "What?"

"The waitress, she knows your name. And she was flirting with you."

"Geesh, Rachel, she's maybe all of eighteen and earning money for college. And she wasn't flirting, just being nice."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really." Danny tapped his fingers on the glass tabletop, restless, shifting his weight in the chair. "A few months ago, some snots from the mainland here on spring break hassled her. I broke it up before it got out of hand."

Rachel got the distinct feeling it was a good deal more than that.

"Newark or Honolulu, things never change with you."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"It's not an accusation, Daniel, just a fact. You know everyone to a degree in your area, as it were. You did back home where we lived; all the shopkeepers and neighbors all knew you. I suspect they do here as well. It's just your way and there's nothing wrong with that." Rachel left unsaid that it meant Danny viewed Hawaii as home now. She wasn't sure he'd want to hear that.

The young waitress came back with their drinks and another smile for Danny before she left them in peace.

"Why are you here, Rachel? What couldn't wait until I picked up Grace next?"

Rachel didn't miss the hurt in her ex-husband's voice, or the resignation. They'd come to an understanding after the mess his brother left behind. She still enjoyed his quick smiles, sarcasm and energy. But there was none of that today. He looked exhausted and worn. More than that, he hurt and she could see it.

"I didn't want to discuss this where Grace might overhear."

That made Danny look up at her in surprise and then slide his gaze away. She nodded.

"She's upset about the fight you and Steven had a few weeks ago. Danny—"

"I'm sorry, okay? I'll make it right with Grace. It just happened, neither of us intended to get into it, it was just a difference of opinion, that's all. You know how I can get." He nearly knocked his glass over with his hands. He swore under his breath as he caught it, slopping tea on the table.

"Why are you doing this to yourself?" She reached across the table, catching his wrist and he looked up at her. Misery shown, the same misery she’d put there a few years ago when she said she couldn't stay married to him anymore.

"Doing what, Rachel?" Danny pulled away from her, something he wouldn't have normally done. She knew her ex-husband, knew he needed contact.

"Grace adores you, as she should. You're her father. And she's extremely fond of Steven. Right now she's afraid she's losing someone again. It's taken her awhile to trust like that again, Danny, to believe the people around her aren't going to be taken away."

"I didn't move her from New Jersey to Hawaii, Rachel."

"No, you didn't. That's fair." Rachel ran her finger down the side of her glass. She didn't want to pull Danny into argument. Not when he was so clearly hurting. "Danny, I realize that maybe it's not my place. But you're allowed to be happy." She paused as she met his gaze. "With Steven if that's who you want."

"You're right, it's not your place. You gave that up when you signed the divorce papers." Danny dug for his wallet, pulling it out of his pants pocket. "I'll walk you back to your car." He pulled a twenty and put it on the table.

"Do you think I won't approve?"

Danny froze, half out of his chair. Rachel remained seated, waiting. Danny sat back down.

"From the moment I met Steven and saw him with you, I realized you'd found what you needed. It didn't matter that he was another man. He's lost on you, Daniel and I think that frightens you. And that's understandable, given what's happened."

He wasn't looking at her, but across the street, one hand fisted on the table, the other on his knee. "It's not that simple and you should know that." He finally looked at her, his eyes brilliant blue in the evening's growing shadows.

"Because you won't let it be." She touched his hand again and to her surprise and relief, he opened his fist and twined his fingers with hers. The frustration and anger drained away, leaving in its wake Danny's unhappiness. "Danny, you can't survive like this, not alone. It's not who you are. Grace and your job aren't going to be enough no matter how much you tell yourself they are."

Danny shook his head, raking his hand through his hair. "I just don't know what to do anymore, Rachel. I honestly don't."

***

Steve watched the oncoming sunset, edgy and restless and itching to go to Danny's apartment and pin him up against the wall with a smothering kiss. And then Steve would get serious.

Yeah, and it would be a massive mistake.

It wasn't part of the plan. And Steve did have a plan that involved patience and lots of it. He knew his partner well enough to know that he wouldn't be able to keep going like he was. Danny was physical and handsy, loud and expressive and for the last couple of weeks, Steve more or less took that away from him.

Steve could see it ate at his friend, each day rolling into another with Danny fighting who he was and Steve giving him all the rope he needed to hang himself.

It was a matter of wearing down Danny's defenses until he had nothing to counter with, no further arguments. Steve could wait him out and had every intention of doing so.

The silky water lapped up around his feet as Steve stood at the edge of the tide mark. He'd come home and stripped his shirt and boots off before grabbing a beer and wandering down here to the beach. Now he watched as a pair of sail boats skipped across the shimmering waves, silhouettes against the riot of colors streaked across the sky. This was the Hawaii tourists came to see and Steve couldn't fault the beauty. But he longed to show Danny more of _his_ Hawaii.

And so much more.

Christ, how on earth did he fall so hard for a mouthy _haole_ from New Jersey, of all fucking places. Really. New Jersey. What was it about the guy that had Steve almost from the first day?

Steve wondered if he could hold onto his resolve to wait Danny out.

He needed a fresh beer which meant a hike back up to the house. He was a bit startled when he found Chin Ho standing where the lawn turned to sand. His friend gave him a quiet smile.

"It's not easy to come up behind you without you knowing it." Chin had a beer in each hand and offered one to Steve.

"How long have you been standing there?" Steve nodded toward the chairs, setting his empty in the sand by the nearest one.

"Long enough." Chin settled in the second chair, glancing out over the ocean.

Steve let the silence last for a few minutes, looking back out over the ocean as he drank his beer. Chin didn't seem inclined to open the conversation.

"Not that you aren't welcome, and you are anytime, but why are you here?"

Chin smiled in that gentle distant way, eyes dark as he gave Steve a quick glance. The man was Steve's definition of serenity, rarely losing his composure. Steve knew that he may be Five-0's commander, but it was Chin Ho who provided the foundation they all stood upon.

"You know, I've been doing my best to stay out of this situation. And I've been warning Kono, repeatedly, to do the same thing." Chin took a sip of his beer. "It's personal and it's between you and Danny and I respect that."

Now he pinned Steve with a dark look, a raw annoyance catching Steve off guard.

"Chin—"

"I told you to fix this with Danny. Instead you've been making it worse. For chrissakes, Steve, you're tearing him apart, can't you see that?"

Steve shoved up from the chair, Chin watching him as he walked to the edge of the lapping waves.

"He made it clear he wanted to be left the hell alone, Chin and I'm doing exactly that."

"Oh really? That's what you're doing?"

"Yes, Chin, that's _exactly_ what I'm doing!" Steve swung back on Chin, head up but that earned him one very chilly look of disapproval from the other man.

Chin climbed to his feet, still regarding Steve with narrowed eyes. "Don't think of pulling rank on me here, McGarrett." The sharp edge in Chin's voice had Steve ready to snap but he bit back his words, remembering who this was and that he’d more than earned Steve's respect. "I happen to like Danny a lot and consider him a very good friend, which is why I'm here. Stop treating what's going on between you two like a military op with Danny as an objective that needs to be conquered."

"That's not what I'm doing," Steve pointed at Chin.

"Yeah, well brah, that's exactly what you're doing."

***  
The morning sun touched across the tossing waves, Kono sitting quietly on her board, drifting and bobbing with the motion. She loved early mornings, when everything was hushed but for the sound of the ocean and the cry of the seabirds. She didn't mind catching the waves by herself and in fact, pretty much preferred it that way.

She still remembered Danny coming to her a few months back, restless, his hands shoved in his pockets when he came into her office. She'd gotten used to his energy and mouth. She liked him. A lot. Even so, the dead last thing she expected him to ask her was for surfing lessons. She'd have been less shocked if he asked her to dance naked on the surface table.

But he was serious so she agreed. She doubted he'd stay with it for long, especially after some rather spectacular wipeouts. What she got instead was a stubborn tenacity that never said quit. Danny had made the decision he would master this and so once a week, sometimes twice, they'd meet.

It taught her something about the man and gave her an appreciation she didn't have before. And despite Steve's constant jabs to the contrary, Kono knew Danny could swim. Quite well in fact.

Danny was supposed to meet her this morning since he didn't have Grace but he wasn't there and Kono knew he rarely ran late. The last few weeks had been hard on him and she hated to see him hurting the way he was. Chin warned her to stay out of it, that it was private and between Danny and Steve. But with each passing day, she watched as Danny wore down and hated that she did nothing.

Chin was right—this wasn't about the friendship or partnership, this was a lot deeper and to step into it was inviting trouble. But it didn't make her any happier.

Glancing behind her at the open ocean and sunrise, she decided that for whatever reason, her friend wasn't going to show. And she'd had enough of sitting on the sidelines, hoping this would resolve itself.

 

***

When Danny first came to Hawaii, he had very little to occupy his time besides work and his daughter. He knew no one and accepted that he was an outsider for better or worse. His new partner, Meka, was the exception to the norm but even so, Danny found himself with way too much free time on his hands.

This led him back to his desk at HPD rather than accept his empty apartment. There were always people there, no matter the hour. And it didn't matter if they regarded him with the typical suspicion reserved for _haoles_ , especially loud mouthed ones from New Jersey. Because they were still a better alternative to being alone.

Even so, there was only so much paperwork Danny could catch up on. One late evening he pulled a handful of cases that had gone cold. They weren't necessarily inactive—but they were no longer anyone's priority, either. He sifted through the half dozen or so files, reading through the reports, witness testimonies, pictures of evidence and the crime scenes, trying to get a feel for each of the homicide victims.

He had a fresh perspective, being the mainlander.

He'd given that up when Steve hijacked him into being his partner and Danny found himself on the elite task force. It wasn't like Five-0 didn't have enough to do and with the formation came something else—friends. He wasn't alone anymore, Steve, Kono and Chin all made sure of it.

He stood now at the computer table, electronically flipping through pictures, a handful of regular files stacked beside him. Cases that had gone cold in the last few months. Despite being in Hawaii for a year now, he still had fresh eyes, still saw things a bit differently.

He kept coming back to a home invasion case. A family murdered in their beds, even the dog killed. The crime scene photos showed the splattered blood in the same lurid detail as the smashed china cabinet in the dining room. There was a lot of rage here, Danny decided, studying the pictures, going room to room. Furniture had been overturned or destroyed, the kitchen looking as if a hurricane had slammed through it. The parents, three kids and a dog all dead. The wife had been alive when they were found, clinging by a thread. But she didn't survive the ambulance ride to the hospital.

Danny decided this was the one he'd focus on for now. It was ugly, messy and violent and he could lose himself in it for hours at a time. He probably wouldn't find anything new, but that wasn't the point. And he'd seen more than a few like these, back in Newark.

He started to sort everything by room, pushing the various pictures and documents around, forming virtual stacks before he swept his hand and moved the ones he wanted up onto the three screens.

"That's a serious amount of rage."

Danny turned around, finding Kono standing at the end of the table, eyes narrowed as she studied what Danny had up on the screens. He glanced around but there appeared to be only her.

"Yeah, it was."

Kono switched her attention to him, her eyes large and dark. She had on one of her loose shirts, leaving one shoulder bare, exposing the bright yellow strap of what Danny knew was a bikini top. She also wore jean shorts and canvas skids, her damp hair pulled back from her pretty face.

And it hit him like a slap that he was supposed to have met her up at the North Shore, hours ago.

"Christ, I'm sorry, Kono. I totally forgot." He felt like slime for standing her up. She was being more than nice and sweet in giving up her free time to try and teach him. "I have no real excuse to offer, only the truth that I honestly forgot."

"It's okay, Danny. Buy me a beer later and all is forgiven." She nodded to the screens. "We catch a case?"

"Um, no, it's not that at all." He shrugged and ducked his head. "I was just looking through some older files."

Kono came around the far side of the table and up to the screens. The third one showed one of the many newspaper articles. She pointed at it, casting Danny a curious glance over her shoulder. "I remember this case. It was all over the news about three, maybe four months ago. I don't remember though, when it was solved."

"Because it isn't." Danny started to save everything so he could work on it later. He hadn't planned on his friends finding out about this. "I was just curious, that's all. I'm really sorry about blowing you off, Kono." How pathetic he must look to her, thumbing through cold cases like some morbid curiosity seeker.

Kono came back around the table and reached across, catching his wrist with cool fingers. "Danny, wait a minute." He froze under her touch, then pulled away, feeling foolish and out of sorts. "Are you working this? On your own time?"

He didn't answer right away, at a loss at first. He decided to go with the bare truth. "I only just saw this today, Kono." Which was the truth, just carefully edited down.

"You are, aren't you?"

"I was looking, Kono, nothing more, okay?" Danny spread his hands wide with his agitation. "I thought I didn't have anything better to do, having forgot about our lesson and so I came into the office and got sidetracked with this. That's all, nothing more." God, he didn't need for Chin and McGarrett to find out about this. Especially McGarrett.

It proved just how pathetic he was that he had to fill his empty time with dead end cases. Ones that were so ugly, he didn't have to think about Steve. And being naked with Steve...

Yeah, well, so much for that.

"I should get going."

"Danny—"

"Kono, I'm sorry." He finished closing the file down, then grabbed the small stack of hard files. "I really do need to get going."

***

Danny sat, half sprawled on his couch with a bowl of popcorn and a beer. He'd taped a baseball game earlier in the week and tried to settle into it. He barely watched it, though, his thoughts wandering back to Steve despite his best efforts to the contrary.

It was going to be a miserable night and the thought of getting good and drunk appeared to be the likely alternative to lying there, staring at the ceiling. The resulting hangover in the morning was less appealing, though.

He could put himself out of his misery and go to Steve's. He had no doubt that in under ten minutes they'd both be naked and rutting against each other. And in the short term, that could be okay but Danny wanted more than sex.

What the hell was wrong with him? Why not roll around with Steve for awhile, no strings attached? They were both adults, they could both get it out of their system and go back to normal. Steve would lose interest eventually and if Danny told himself that right from the beginning, what was the harm?

It had been so long since Danny had been with anyone and god, he wanted the contact. He was so incredibly lonely.

But he knew he couldn't do it without the emotional attachment and when Steve did get tired, when someone else caught his attention, Danny would have to deal with the reality. Either that or the guy's recklessness would get himself killed.

Either way, it left Danny alone again.

Things should be getting better, easing up, the wounds caused by the divorce healing over. But instead he found himself lost and drifting on the anguish with the only answer being Steve. He kept circling and circling around in his mind and he kept coming back to Steve.

No promises. The words cut sharply.

His cell's ringing jerked him out of his thoughts. He'd tossed it on his coffee table earlier and it sat there, flanked by an empty beer bottle and the half eaten bowl of popcorn. He finally reached for it, glancing at the caller ID and sighed. After being busted by Kono in the office earlier this morning, Danny was surprised it took this long for Chin to call him.

"Chin Ho Kelly, what can I do for you?" Danny dug deep for the false cheer.

"Hey, brah, do you have plans for this evening?"

"Oh sure—I've got some girls and beer and well, you're a big boy, you can figure out the rest."

 

***

This was the last thing Danny had planned for his evening and he had no idea how he’d let Chin talk him into it. He sat back in his chair, rolling the beer bottle between his palms as he watched the two cousins in a spirited argument that Danny lost track of. It didn't help that they jumped in and out of the local language that still had Danny stumped but for the most basic of words.

They were in a local bar, off the tourist map where Danny stood out like the _haole_ he was among the more native population. It wasn't a bad place as bars went and under other circumstances, Danny probably would relax.

But not tonight.

Steve was there, sprawled back in his chair with a casualness that pulled at Danny. He sat between Chin and Kono and watched Danny with half lidded eyes. He said nothing, only nodded to Danny when he arrived with Chin. Danny wasn't sure what to think, unable to read the other man so he did his best to ignore Steve. But that wasn't exactly easy as Steve continued to watch him.

Danny didn't know how Steve did it. The guy just sat there with a bottle in one hand, yet somehow, he always attracted attention. A lot of attention. A couple of very pretty local girls deliberately slid behind his chair and he looked up with that bright smile. Danny didn't hear what they said, only watched as Steve shook his head, still with that killer smile. He was rewarded with disappointed looks but they moved on, both looking over their shoulders before going outside.

Steve wore a tight black T-shirt that showed exactly how ripped he was and jeans that hugged him in all the right places. He sat there, careless and casual and so goddamned hot, drawing more looks by the minute.

And Danny felt awkward, sitting there in his button down shirt, although without the tie. It had been years since he'd felt like this, so out of his depth, struggling to find his balance.

Chin had promised that he and Kono would keep Steve's mouth on a leash tonight. But Steve didn't have to say a single word. He just watched Danny with a heat that had him tied up and miserable.

Using the excuse that he was paying for the next round, Danny fled, heading for the bar. Fishing out his wallet and ignoring the suspicious look the bartender gave him, Danny ordered four beers. Waiting, he rested his arms on the slick surface, pressing his weight there. He felt the beginnings of another headache, which didn't surprise him. He'd been dealing with them off and on for the last couple of weeks.

The bartender wasn't the only one sliding Danny careful looks. Maybe Steve wasn't technically a native of the island, but he didn't stand out the way Danny did in a place like this.

The bartender put the bottles at his elbow with a nod. Danny stared at them, not ready to go back to the table and Steve's "Let's go to my place and do things that are illegal in this state and New Jersey" look.

Christ, what the hell was he doing here?

"Hey, brah, you okay?" Chin slipped up beside him, honest concern in his dark eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine." Danny lied, raking a hand through his hair. He nodded to the TV over the bar that had a baseball game on. "Just wanted to catch the score."

Chin cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really? Can you even tell me who's playing?"

"Does it really matter?" Danny grabbed the beers, but Chin caught his arm.

"It does to me."

Danny stared at his friend, feeling so twisted inside he didn't know what to do with Chin's understanding. "It was a mistake for me to come," he finally managed.

"Here tonight or here to Hawaii?"

Sweet Christ, how this man saw through everything, stripping Danny to his soul with a few simple words. He stared at Chin, not feeling this vulnerable since Rachel told him it was over.

"What's holding you guys up?" Kono came up, flashing her smile, pushing her dark hair back over her shoulders. Danny's relief was so profound, he almost kissed her. She looked from Danny to Chin but Danny handed off two of the bottles then pushed by to go back to their table.

He put both bottles on the table, made some fumbled excuse to all three of them before heading for the door, car keys in hand.

***

"I thought I'd find you here."

Danny glanced up to see Chin had come into the office. He had the file with the home invasion open on the surface table but nothing up on the monitors. "I didn't feel like going back to my apartment."

"I didn't mean to bother you earlier, Danny. And I wasn't trying to pry." Chin came up to the table.

"I know. It's not you, it's on me." Danny raked his hands through his hair. "I'm just tired, is all. It's nothing you or anyone else did, I just wasn't in the mood. I should have said no in the first place." He shrugged.

"Danny—"

"It's okay, Chin, really."

Chin nodded, letting the silence fill in for a minute as Danny leaned with both hands on the table, head bowed.

"Kono mentioned something about a cold case you were working on your own time. This it?"

Danny was ready to deny it, to tell Chin that Kono misunderstood but when he met his friend's eyes, the words slipped away and he sighed. "I look at cold cases once in a while, when I got nothing better to do than stare at the walls of my dump of an apartment." He swept one hand over the table. "I'm not officially working anything. I'm just looking at a few that cooled off or dead ended for whatever reason."

Chin leaned over the table, glancing at what Danny had there. He flipped a couple photos around so he could see them better. "I remember this. Brutal home invasion. Whole family killed." He shook his head. "Man, that's a lot of rage here."

"Yeah. It’s been back-burnered, though. HPD checked out a few leads, but nothing came of them. They worked it for about a month but other cases came up." Danny hesitated. "I've been digging through some newspaper articles— both were well known in various social circles. He was a publisher of a local restaurant magazine, she had a successful party planning business."

"So on the surface, glossy and perfect, in public, anyway. You have a theory?"

"Just the feeling that they weren't as perfect as everyone thought. But nothing more." Danny sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before crossing his arms over his chest. "A lot of expensive jewelry was taken but none of it has come up anywhere. Which is odd for a home invasion."

Danny pulled up the insurance photos of the jewelry supposedly taken.

"If it's drug addicts looking for a quick score, they'd have fenced it pretty fast for the cash."

"Uh huh." Danny indicated the photos. "So, what happened to it?"

Chin shook his head, considering. "Maybe this wasn't so much a home invasion as something made to look like one."

"That's what I'm thinking."

"This much rage? This was personal." Chin looked up at Danny. "So we'll talk to McGarrett, take the case on officially."

Danny hesitated, then shook his head. "I don't want to be explaining to McGarrett that I thumb through cold cases in my downtime." _Because he'll look right through me and know the truth._

"Then don't, he doesn't have to know where it came from. I'm not gonna tell him, Kono won't either. But this is solid work, Danny, there's no reason for us not to take it over officially if we've got something here to work with." Chin pointed at the table. "I can take it up with Steve if you want."

"You could just take the theories back to the detective who was working it. I'm sure he'd take it better from you than from a _haole_ from New Jersey." Danny deliberately put on his thickest north Jersey accent which got a quick grin out of Chin.

"You forget, it won't exactly be welcomed from me either. Tell you what, if you'll accept my help, we can work it this weekend on our own time. Come Monday, I'll talk to Steve and ask him for us to take it on formally. He asks, I'll tell him I was looking at it this weekend." Chin paused, looking at Danny with dark eyes. "That is, if you want my help."

Danny met Chin's quiet gaze, considering. He hadn't meant to drag the team in on the case. This was supposed to be something to occupy his mind instead of McGarrett and the aching loneliness he struggled with since he came to this forsaken island.

But now Chin and Kono knew just how pathetic he was if he'd rather be here looking at violent crime scene photos than sharing a beer with them at a cop bar on a Friday night. What else was he going to do, though? Sit there and let McGarrett continue to wear him down? Maybe get drunk enough that it didn't matter if he woke up and found himself in Steve's bed the next morning?

Who was he kidding, anyway? Danny had a feeling that Chin had known for some time what a loser he was. What was the point of pretending otherwise?

"I'll deal with McGarrett. It's not a big deal." He nodded to what was on the screen. "So, do you know if Kono has plans for the weekend?"

Chin grinned at him. “You want to ask her out, brah? Or you want to let us in on this?” He indicated the case file.


End file.
